If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Websleuths News

On the latest edition of Websleuths Radio we tackle the Rebecca Zahau murder case and the big mistake made in the autopsy report of the Las Vegas shooter.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

GA - Alana Calahan, 14, shot to death, Harlem, 31 Jan 2011

(near Augusta GA)
The 14-year-old boy accused of killing Alana stood by and watched as her sister tried to save her life. She had been shot with her father's 9 mm semiautomatic pistol. Her mother said the unloaded gun was tucked away in her bedroom and that Schmidt would have had to rifle through her room to find it.

About 3:15 p.m. Monday, 18-year-old Amanda Calahan picked up Alana from the bus stop at the end of the family's half-milelong driveway. She dropped Alana off at home and went back to pick up her younger brother, who rode a later bus. "She was only gone five or 10 minutes," Betty Jo Calahan said. "When they got back, they went into the house and saw the mess."

Alana had been shot from behind as she sat at a computer in the dining room, then dragged outside, across the backyard and into the woods. The 1st story Aaron Schmidt told police was that he had chased away an intruder and found her lying in the woods behind her home.

"I treated that boy like he was one of my own," Calahan said, adding that Schmidt spent many afternoons at her home riding four-wheelers or hanging out with Alana. He often ate dinner at the Calahans' table.

Captain Steve Morris, with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office tells WJBF News Channel 6 the gun used in this shooting was found in the woods, and that the 14-year-old suspect, Aaron Schmidt, shot the victim in her home. Her body was found in the woods behind her home. Her sister was the person who found the body and called 911.

The suspect claims the shooting was an accident, but he was charged with Murder based on the evidence.

Police say the Harlem Middle School eighth-grader was shot from behind as she sat at a computer in the dining room. She was then dragged outside, across the backyard and into the woods.

Columbia County Coroner Vernon Collins confirmed Wednesday that Alana died of a gunshot wound to the head and neck, based on an autopsy performed Tuesday at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Augusta.

Schmidt, who also lives on Miles Road, was charged with murder and is being held in the Regional Youth Detention Center, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said. He told police the shooting was accidental.

Superior Court Judge Michael Annis sentenced Lacy Aaron Schmidt to life in prison without parole plus five years Friday for his Feb. 10 conviction for murder, theft and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

He was convicted of shooting Calahan inside her Miles Road home. Annis highlighted Schmidt's complete lack of emotion during the trial before handing down the stiffest sentence possible.

"He was emotionless, remorseless during his interviews ... through the entire course of the trial," Annis said. "No remorse. No 'I'm sorry.' No nothing."

Superior Court Judge Michael Annis sentenced Lacy Aaron Schmidt to life in prison without parole plus five years Friday for his Feb. 10 conviction for murder, theft and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

He was convicted of shooting Calahan inside her Miles Road home. Annis highlighted Schmidt's complete lack of emotion during the trial before handing down the stiffest sentence possible.

"He was emotionless, remorseless during his interviews ... through the entire course of the trial," Annis said. "No remorse. No 'I'm sorry.' No nothing."